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Missing IyaDecember 2004
It's been such a hectic couple of months since I last wrote, I don't know where to start.
I guess a good place to begin is by saying that I'm looking forward to going home next week. Since moving to Tokushima city, I've had some good times, I'm enjoying the new lifestyle, and I've certainly been busy. But it's also been a bit lonely. Leaving Iya was more difficult than I thought.
There was a space of a few months in my second year in the valley when I was just settling fully into life as part of the community. I'd found a network of young friends locally, was getting to be reasonably capable at my job and at communicating in Japanese, had AJET to keep me busy, and life was pretty good. Then I started thinking about my future - how long I thought I could stay in the valley, going back to Australia, family, being an ALT, career goals and whatever. I thought about things a bit too much, probably, instead of just enjoying it all. Now I look back and wonder that I loved Iya more than I knew.
Not that I think leaving Iya was the wrong decision. A job opportunity came up here in Tokushima and I took it, with a view to doing more work with AJET as Chair, getting down to some Japanese study to improve my job prospects, and having a different experience as a city ALT. And at the moment, Iya is facing the issue of "gappei" - merging with other neighbouring towns to form a larger municipal district. One of the likely consequences of this is that local government jobs will be cut, and I reckon that one or two of the local ALT positions will be phased out, too. Many small towns around Japan are facing the same sorts of challenges. So, even if I had wanted to stay on as an ALT in the valley, I think I'd feel a whole lot less secure about it now.
I'm slowly getting to building a little network here in the city, too. There are lots more JETs to hang out with, if it's just company I want. Slowly but surely I'm getting to know a couple of the younger teachers I work with, and I've taken up with a new Awa Odori group, too. The group, Ahou-ren, is one of the most famous around, but their style is a little different to what I'm used to, so I have to go back to basics again. Anyway, life in the city ain't bad, it's just hard to fully adjust.
I went back to Iya in November for an autumn festival and saw lots of friendly faces, heard a few stories of what's going on. I even heard that a sweet girl I once knew in the valley is getting married soon. Things change so quickly. I think there will always be a part of me which misses being close to those people, misses being part of their lives. I guess I can only look forward to the next time our roads cross again.
So a dose of home and Mum's cooking will do me good, I reckon. I'll land in Brisbane on December 17, and take off again on January 4 for a quick stopover in Hong Kong with an old college friend. Then I'll hit the skies again January 7 and take a long weekend holiday to relax and recover before the last term of school starts. While I'm at home, besides for all the fun of Christmas and summer, I'll be spending some more time thinking about the future. I've been an ALT for the best part of four years now. Do I want to make that five? Or is it time to call it a day? If there was a job going at the embassy in Tokyo or something, that'd probably tip the scales. I know the education office here in Tokushima would like me to stay, which is nice, but... well, lots on my mind. Time at home will help me to sort it all out.
It's been tough to keep momentum going with AJET in the midst of going through a rough patch personally, but I came out of our recent meeting in Tokyo feeling much better about things. It was really positive and the rest of the team came away feeling pretty good about the weekend's work, too, I think. AJET is far from perfect, of course, but we're not doing too badly. We're starting to get to a point where we can adjust what AJET has been doing until now, put some better processes in place, and get some good things done by the time the next council takes over in June. Which is all I ever really wanted to do.
AJET won't be a factor in my recontracting decision, however. It was last time, because staying on as a JET was essential to being AJET Chair. This time, I'll be handing over the gavel, the email address, and all the documents, and wishing the next team well. I'll miss it, in some way, but I'm looking forward to being able to do something new.
Anyway, in the absence of huge news, I'll leave it here for now and look forward to seeing a lot of you in the next few weeks back in Oz. Please email me if you have time to catch up!
Love,
Dave